Racing

400 Tips & Tricks | Part 27

Key Advice Every Rider Should Know

By Pete Peterson and The Dirt Rider Staff

November 9, 2016

The June 2016 issue marked Dirt Rider's 400th issue, and to mark the milestone we put together 400 tips that might save the day, or just make the day go easier. We thought we'd show them to you again online, ten at a time, to help instill the wisdom into your brain so when the time comes you hear an expert bit of advice in your head.

Note: Tips that came from a specific source will have an attribute listed. Tips with no attribute have been pulled from Dirt Rider's extensive library of content, including back issues of the magazine, dirtrider.com, and The Total Dirt Rider Manual. Enjoy!

400 Tips & Tricks | Part 27Dirt Rider

To ride over a log, wheelie slightly so your front wheel makes first contact about 75 percent up the log. It will bounce over. Give a quick blip of throttle then help the rear wheel coast over.
Don't cool off with ice or A/C. They can trigger "warm-up" processes in your body.
Some advanced riders lock the front wheel and turn the bar to skid between narrow trees.
Don't kink that fuel tank vent hose! That can create a vacuum in the tank.
If you attacked every straight like a holeshot, you would likely improve your lap times.
For dead-engine starts, if you have an electric start and kickstart, use both simultaneously.
Play ride. It's fun and teaches you bike control.
Clean the inside of your airbox to prevent knocking in dirt or sand when you do a filter service.
When loading a bike into a truck, if the front brake lever gets out of reach, move your hand to the rear tire and "roll" the bike in with the wheel's leverage.
Don't reverse a front tire to try to get more use out of it. You may gain a little braking grip, but you'll lose a lot of turning ability.